Untitled

Kitagawa Utamaro

1790s · Woodblock print; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

Fan vendors in Edo were reputedly fashionable, handsome boys who attracted girls' attention. This seems to be the case here, where the vendor is showing a fan painted with the face of the Zen master Daruma to a beautiful young woman. Utamaro, however, has depicted the painting on the fan with such vigor that the Daruma seems as animated as the figures in this scene. With his finger in his mouth in a traditional gesture of envy, he appears to be beside himself with jealousy over the flirting young couple. The picture within the picture of the venerable first patriarch of Zen Buddhism caught in a humorous foible adds to the light-hearted eroticism of the scene.

Artist

Kitagawa Utamaro

Date

1790s

Medium

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Estate of Samuel Isham, 1914